The Esports World Cup has returned once again, but this time moving to France, with the Esports Nations Cup taking over as the Saudi soil equivalent. Once again, VALORANT has returned, boasting a huge $2,000,000 prize pool. The winners walked away with $600,000 and the whole remaining crest as they crushed their competition in and out of game.
100 Thieves finally win something
There are a lot of teams that have shown promise but never results. 100 Thieves have been one of those teams season after season, if they even showed promise at all. Co-owner and streamer, Nadeshot has watched them through the few highs and many lows, but similarly to Team Heretics last year, who had also failed to lift a trophy, the Esports World Cup has been a kingmaker.
This time walking away with 1000 EWC Club Points and twice the money that Leviatan made after their Masters London win.
The Run
100 Thieves by no means came into EWC as the favourites, but after picking up a clean 2-0 start, beating out RRQ and winning out an important map 1 against BBL on Lotus 14-12, the teams would trade pretty convincing maps in favour of 100T across 3. Leading their group 2-0, they moved on as the number 1 seed from Group A into playoffs, facing off against MIBR, a team that truly have been nothing but mid this season. In series 1 this is the easiest MIBR win prediction to make but as of late, it was anyone’s game, and despite the star studded roster from the Brazilian powerhouse, 100T would continue on in bracket.
Nongshim would take them the distance, going to the last round of regulation time on the final map of Haven and a monster performance out of bang. As always, Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban was the linchpin of the team, continuing to put up huge numbers as the team’s Sentinel.
The Asuna and Timotino duo has shown the promise for what was blueprinted to fans when the roster was adjusted, with Timotino taking the role of primary duelist, and Asuna taking that second entry role to clean up in the space created. The two were instrumental in their 3rd map dominance over MIBR at the start of playoffs. While they were notably absent during the 3 map slog against Nongshim Redforce, the two put up numbers when the team needed them most against the defending Champions NRG.
They couldn’t quite shut it out in 3; Haven was a rude awakening as mada, who had had an excellent tournament, dropped 20 on them on route to a 13-2 hazing. The rounds kept coming in Ascent, getting 6 on the board before 100T finally got their footing, taking the map the distance, all the way into overtime, where they would take it in 2 straight to shutdown NRG, and lift the trophy, much to their own disbelief.
What does 100 Thieves’ win mean for 2026?
At the moment, they look like one of the most improved teams in Americas, with big wins against their domestic field, and some good results against some international teams that they’d likely be paired into should they manage to convert this success into a domestic playoffs run in Stage 2. They’re a team that can’t rest on the back of a strong season and accumulated Champs points, so a deep run at Playoffs is absolutely necessary if we’re going to see them at the final international of the year.